# McClelland Holiday Spirit 2011



## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Tin description - (front) A gentle blend of Burley, Virginia and Cavendish tobaccos, flavored with dark rum, pecan and cocoa. Created especially for the holidays. (back) This mild, smooth blend of Burley, Virginia and Cavendish tobaccos is flavored with dark rum, pecan and cocoa. It brings a warm glow to the coldest winter day. The aroma of a favorite holiday confection wafts from the bowl bringing pipe smoking contentment. Happy Holidays!

Sounds pretty good, huh? :hungry:










I guess they must change it from year to year, as this one is prominently marked "2011." The bottom of the tin is stamped "7/2011"

Pardon me for being lazy and taking pics with the phone, but they're enough to get the idea, I think. It's mostly black strips with some brown peppered in.










The smell is strongly of rum. I can even smell alcohol, so I assume that it is doused with real rum and not rum flavoring. I don't pick up any other smells in the tin, just the rum. It's quite moist in the tin, so some drying time is warranted. I left it out for about 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, it still smoked a little hot and wet for me in my cob. Not horribly, but I'd definitely prefer it cooler and drier. The taste of the rum doesn't come through overwhelmingly in the smoke, but its there, along with sweet pecan. I don't pick up the cocoa that the tin describes, but I do get something else...something like caramel or maybe nougat but not quite. I am reminded of some kind of homemade christmasy pecan candy, maybe pralines. The flavor is pretty mild....I'd prefer a little heavier topping personally. I smoked this one inside for a change, and the room note is quite pleasant as far as I can tell.

I wouldn't say I'm disappointed, but I'm definitely not blown away by it. Despite the heavy rum smell in the tin, the topping is quite light in the smoke. I'm not giving up, though. I'll try more drying time next bowl and see if that helps. I might also try mixing it with C&D Burley Flake #1 to see if it that will help beef up the body and maybe help the burn, but I'm afraid the topping might be too light to come through satisfactorily. I'll report back when I do!


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## Nick S. (Jul 10, 2011)

Thanks for the review Clifford! This is actually one of my favorite aromatics, though if I am remembering correctly I think it took about half a tin for me to fully get into it... From what I have been told it is the same from year to year... I guess they put the year on it to make it sound more "limited" so that people will buy it... you know how we all just suckers anything that is a limited edition...

Again, nice review :thumb:


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Lots of things, in my experience, can change our perceptions of flavor. So here's the disclaimer and details:

The above review was smoked indoors, late in the evening, no beverage, I had been smoking all day (but hadn't had anything else in a couple of hours), 30 minutes of drying time.

Today I'm turning that completely around - outside in the cold, early in the morning with coffee, first smoke of the day, 1 hour of drying time. I also added just a pinch of BF#1 to add a little more body. BF#1 tastes almost completely neutral to me, and I only added a pinch, so I don't think that will affect my perception of taste much.

Much better smoke this go around. I think the full hour of drying time made the biggest difference. It's burning much cooler and drier. I'm tasting the rum much more this time, though still much less than the nearly overwhelming smell in the jar would lead you to think. Still, it's enough that I'm reminded less of candy and more of a sweet after dinner drink, a cordial or liqueur.

I wouldn't say I love it, I'm definitely enjoying it a lot more than my first bowl. It just jumped in status from "gonna sit on the shelf a long time until I reluctantly finish it off" to "pretty decent, probably won't take too long to finish it, but won't be hurting to buy more anytime soon."


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Nick S. said:


> Thanks for the review Clifford! This is actually one of my favorite aromatics, though if I am remembering correctly I think it took about half a tin for me to fully get into it... From what I have been told it is the same from year to year... I guess they put the year on it to make it sound more "limited" so that people will buy it... you know how we all just suckers anything that is a limited edition...
> 
> Again, nice review :thumb:


I've found that it often takes me a few bowls of anything before I can fully appreciate it and make a thorough judgement. It's the same way in the cigar world - whenever trying something new, I would always buy a 5 pack rather than a single.

My original review was only my second bowl, and the above update my third. I probably should've waited and smoked more before posting the review. But I promise to post a few more updates! ipe:


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

This will probably be my last update. I'm smoking a little more of it now. I hadn't planned on writing anything up today, but I was browsing puff while smoking this, and came across this thread, so I figured I'd post one last addendum.

Today, I'm smoking Holiday Spirit straight with no mixers, in a LePeltier clay pipe. I was lazy and didn't leave it out to dry this time, but it's smoking very well. Of course, it takes a LOT to make a clay gurgle. I don't think I've ever made a clay gurgle, come to think of it. I don't have much to add to my previous notes about flavor - rum up front, some sweet pecan and some kind of candy note underneath. The only thing I can add is this - I don't know why I thought the topping was too light the first time I smoked it. I wouldn't say it's HEAVY, but it's certainly enough that I wouldn't wish for more. I'm wondering if my choice of pipe has something to do with it...maybe this LePeltier is a much better suited for aros than my cobs.

Anywho...I'd say "recommended" if you're an aro guy and the flavor profile I described sounds tasty to you. My personal opinion hasn't changed a lot from my last post - I don't hate it, but I wouldn't say I love it, either. I'll finish this tin eventually, but I probably won't be buying more.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

You don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, right? Like your mother said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything." oke:

Fine write-up, Clifford! I like the installment plan for reviews, now that you've done it. :tu


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